Good Morning Britain’s latest interview with George Galloway has sparked outrage and led to a flurry of Ofcom complaints.
The ITV breakfast programme, hosted by Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley, saw viewers fuming after the pair interviewed the MP following his Rochdale election win. Rishi Sunak had previously slammed Galloway’s victory, calling it “beyond alarming” in a speech outside 10 Downing Street, citing Galloway’s dismissal of the October 7 events, his praise for Hezbollah, and an alleged endorsement from Nick Griffin, ex-leader of the BNP.
In early March, Sunak stated: “It’s beyond alarming that last night, the Rochdale by-election returned a candidate that dismisses the horror of what happened on October 7, who glorifies Hezbollah and is endorsed by Nick Griffin, the racist former leader of the BNP.”
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During the fiery Good Morning Britain segment, Susanna and Richard grilled Galloway on these accusations, reports the Mirror.
(Image: ITV)
Galloway defended himself, saying: “I don’t dismiss the horror of what happened on October 7, it’s completely baseless. I don’t glorify Hezbollah and I wasn’t endorsed by Nick Griffin.”
He was also questioned by Richard about his previous support for Saddam Hussein, whom he had called a “monster” and a “tyrant”.
Richard queried: “Everybody makes mistakes. I’m just wondering if you look back at your political career, if that was one of them?” Galloway was quick to respond: “I’ve made lots of mistakes but not that one, that jibe doesn’t quite have the sting it used to have.”
He then added: “Congratulations for getting it right.” Susanna pressed him on his response to Rishi Sunak, to which Galloway retorted: “I think everyone dismisses Rishi Sunak, nothing he says is of any value.”
(Image: ITV)
Susanna challenged him again, summarising: “You won’t answer questions about a few weeks ago and you won’t answer questions about 30 years ago… What is the question you’d like to ask yourself?” The interview concluded on a tense note, with Susanna thanking her guest for his time in the studio.
She said: “Well, there we go we have finally got to the end of the first question we asked you 10 minutes ago. George Galloway it is lovely to talk to you this morning, thanks very much indeed.”
Galloway responded tersely: “Yeah, right.” Viewers took to social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to criticise Galloway during the live TV spat.
One viewer pleaded: “Get him off he is so rude don’t know why they even let him back in MP please don’t let him back on TV.” Another chimed in: “Who on earth voted for this idiot?” while a third commented: “What an infuriating man to talk to. Imagine being married to that.”
Complimenting Susanna for her composure, another fan said: “God, what a patronising, arrogant bully. Fair play to Susanna for handling this a******* like a pro.”
Reflecting later on the fiery conversation ahead of Keir Starmer’s slot, Richard dubbed the chat a “pyrotechnics display”.
Yet, not all viewers sat well with Susanna and Richard’s performance. One critic pointed out: “When George Galloway said the NHS was in crisis the camera caught Susanna Reid smirking. Absolutely appalling.”
Further criticism from a television viewer read: “This is shocking and outrageous… their hatred and utter contempt for Galloway is glaringly obvious and they are supposed to be unbiased presenters? They should be dismissed for such unprofessionalism and pure bile…” Another person chimed in: “Have to say, the way Richard and Susanna conducted that interview was just embarrassing. Really un-professional.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
